A Study on Howard Goldblatt’s Translation of Animal-related Idioms in Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out

There are a great number of animal-related idioms in Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out, showcasing Mo Yan’s unique writing style of vividness. Statistics and analysis reveal that when Howard Goldblatt translates proverbs, folk wisecracks, and idiomatic expressions, he utilizes a high proportion of literal translations of over 65%. The proportion of literal translation use in translating four-character idiomatic phrases and slang words is less than 50%. In terms of translation methods, the literal translation method is the most used method, followed by the free translation, etc. On the whole, Howard Goldblatt tends to retain and convey more of the cultural exoticism in Chinese to the English translation.